Quite often on the Internet you can find complaints from users that their computers and laptops equipped with an updated interface of the primary UEFI I / O system instead of the outdated BIOS do not want to boot from them when creating bootable flash drives using various programs, and therefore the installation the operating system is not something to execute, but it is impossible to start it corny. It is necessary that the bootloader itself be present on the flash drive itself, allowing UEFI to recognize it as a boot device. But how to make a bootable UEFI flash drive? Many people have problems with this, even when using widespread and popular utilities. Let's try to figure out which tools are best suited for such purposes. But for starters, let's decide what all this is for and what nuances you need to consider when creating a bootable drive with the distribution kit of the installed operating system, and exclusively 64-bit capacity.
Why might I need a UEFI bootable flash drive?
The biggest nuisance that awaits users when trying to start from removable media with a UEFI interface on a computer or laptop is that the primary system itself has built-in protection against the penetration of so-called bootkits - viruses that can damage the system bootloader. In the UEFI interface, it is usually called Secure Boot. Disable it can not always. In addition, you will additionally have to activate the CSM module, and sometimes even switch from UEFI mode to Legacy start mode.
It seems to be simple, but if you boot in Legacy mode, then it turns out that installing a 64-bit system into a partition with MBR fails (only in GPT!), And without switching the main start mode, the file system on the flash drive itself ( NTFS) the primary UEFI system is not recognized, since UEFI can only work with FAT32. A vicious circle of some kind!
Nevertheless, it is quite simple to get around all the restrictions even without disabling Secure Boot by using a pre-created media designed specifically for working with UEFI mode. How to make a flash drive of this type, and then we will consider. You can offer several ways, including the means of the operating systems of all the latest generations, and third-party programs that are automated as much as possible for the convenience of the user.
How to make a UEFI bootable USB flash drive with Windows 10 using the standard update utility?
If anyone remembers, when the tenth version of Windows was just introduced, many users who wanted to try it out in action did not want to wait in line for an upgrade, as was originally proposed by Microsoft. The company itself advised using an alternative solution in the form of a special update program Media Creation Tool. And today this utility has not lost its relevance. How to make a UEFI flash drive with Windows 10 for the subsequent installation of "tens"? Easy peasy!
Download the application from the official site or from any trustworthy resource, run the executable file (the program is delivered in a portable form and does not require installation), then instead of updating the computer, select the creation of bootable media and specify the language settings with system modification and x64 bit capacity.
After that, click the continue button, and set the USB device as the media. After that, the program will perform all necessary actions without your participation.
Note: for the application to work correctly, the Internet connection must be active, since it is required to download the installation files.
Creating bootable media from the command line
How to make a UEFI flash drive using the system itself? You can use the command console, which you need to run as administrator. It will use the DISKPART software tool. First, determine the disk number that corresponds to your connected flash drive, and then alternately execute the commands shown in the image below.
Instead of a two in the example, enter the number under which the flash drive will be displayed when recognizing partitions.
Note: the label operator with its value, shown in the example above and responsible for creating the volume label, can be omitted.
Additional actions with the image file
Now deploy the preloaded image file. In systems of the eighth and tenth modifications, for this it is enough to double-click or select a connection point via the PCM menu, and on Windows 7 you should use the virtual drive mounting in applications like UltraISO, Daemon Tools and their analogues.
After that, completely copy the contents of the image to the USB flash drive.
How to make a bootable UEFI flash drive with Windows 7?
The method described above has one significant drawback, namely that the usual copying of files to removable media after performing preliminary operations can be performed only for those cases when it is supposed to install systems of the eighth and tenth versions. In the case of the 64-bit "seven" you will need to perform a number of additional operations.
First you need to find the boot directory in the distribution, located in the Microsoft folder, which is located in the efi directory, and then copy it directly to the efi directory.
Now, in the Sources folder, find the install.wim file and unzip its contents using any available archiver to a convenient place for you.
Then find the file bootmgfw.efi, rename it to bootx64.efi and copy or move it to a USB flash drive in the boot directory, which was moved one level up earlier. Only now the bootable USB flash drive with Windows 7 will be recognized correctly, after which it will be possible to install the “seven” even without switching the BIOS / UEFI operating modes or deactivating the Secure Boot protection tool.
Rufus program
Now let's see how to make a UEFI flash drive using the most powerful Rufus program, as it is believed.
It can be recommended to all users without exception, since the actions in it are mainly limited only by indicating the location of the image file on the hard drive. The application sets all other options on its own and in the same way, without your participation, performs all the necessary actions.
WinSetupFromUSB Application
Now it’s worth saying a few words about how to make a UEFI flash drive in another popular program called WinSetupFromUSB. The actions in it are slightly different, but still just as simple.
First, select the image file, but then you need to activate the automatic formatting item Auto format it with FBinst and specify - ATTENTION! - NTFS file system. Yes Yes! This utility just allows you to create bootable media with just such a file system, if the files of the installation distribution package contained in the image exceed 4 GB! After setting all the options, you agree twice with the warnings before formatting and confirm the completion of the required operations.
Booting from OS installation media
How to make a UEFI flash drive, figured out. It remains to say a few words about the download. In the case of standard tools and the Rufus application, which were used to create bootable media, the start after the flash drive is inserted by the first boot device will be performed automatically.
If the media was created in WinSetupFromUSB, when starting on computers with the usual BIOS, the GRUB4DOS bootloader menu appears, in which you need to select the item “Windows NT6 (Vista / 7 and above) Setup”. And this means that installing the 64-bit version of Windows will be possible without problems! Then, the installation with the first service pack is selected, and then the familiar window for choosing the language and region appears.